One of the great myths surrounding racehorse owners and breeders is the general viewpoint that we only care about racehorses that are of financial benefit to us and we mistreat horses and send slow ones to the knackery.

Yes, that is the case in some instances, but it has always been my company's major policy that horses come first, second and third and their care and future life is always a priority.

Since Platinum's inception we have given away around 20 horses to good homes. Horses like Cash Market, Sovereign Rock, Sir Olivier, Govinda, Seersayer, Jacob's Ladder, Endless Road, Kaiwaka, Mao's Last Dancer, Sepia etc are some that quickly come to mind.

Many of these horses were given away with great disappointment, horses like Sepia and Mao's Last Dancer had great potential until injury ended their careers, others like Govinda and Kaiwaka were simply too slow and there is a myriad of reasons why these horses were deleted from stock.

But it is my priority that I always look after the welfare of the horses who are no longer racing propositions and I get just as much enjoyment out of them having good lives after racing than I do when they are racing.

It is for this reason I was thrilled to peices to get an email and some photos the other week from Amanda Rattray - who I gave a gelding called Jacob's Ladder to.

In her email Amanda wrote:

Hi Gary,

Just thought I'd give you a quick update on Jacob's Ladder. He's become a very successful show hack now I have his lameness issues under control. He will be competing at Sydney Royal 2011 and possibly Barastoc as well. The attached photos are of him at Orange Show earlier this year.

Amanda attached some pics of her and Jacob's Ladder competing at a recent show (pic pasted below).

I hope he wins a heap of show competitions for her and the horse looks a treat which is a credit to the way Amanda has looked after the horse and also how she has educated him in his new life.

Jacob's Ladder may not have won a race - but he has won a young girl's heart and given her great enjoyment and he is being rewarded with a great life.

That makes me a very happy former owner.

Let's cut to the chase here - just who on the planet does Gai Waterhouse think she is?

Forget the outcome of the today's Supreme Court hearing in which Justice Bergin upheld the decision of Racing NSW stewards and ordered that Nash Rawiller must ride Rangirangdoo in Saturday's Doncaster and not the Waterhouse-trained Theseo.

The outcome is, in my view, irrelevant - as even had His Honour found in favour of Waterhouse - the action in the first instance was that of someone was can't possibly be the full quid!

Malcolm Johnston put it succinctly on SKY Sports Radio this morning when he said that Gai had a dummy spit "and threw her toys out of the cot."

In my 42 years in this industry, it was the most embarassing and absurd thing I have seen. It was just all so unnecessary, brought the industry into the "laughing stock" arena and the groundswell of dismay and anger felt by the general racing public towards Waterhouse's action was palpable.

But the failed court bid raises some very relevant questions that may have further ramifications for the industry, thanks to the behaviour of Ms Waterhouse.

She lost the case. So is Racing NSW going to pursue a costs order against her? Why should Racing NSW waste the industry's money on defending (what Racing NSW CEO Peter V'Landys called "frivolous following the outcome) the steward's ruling?

Similarly I hope Nash Rawiller and Chris Waller seek costs orders for their representation at today's hearing.

Finally, if costs are pursued are Theseo's poor bloodoy owners going to get slugged for Waterhouse's belligerent stance.

If so, they have every right to give Star Thoroughbreds (the syndicator of Theseo) and its principal, Denise Martin, a right royal gobfull.

I have so often praised Waterhouse and indeed Denise Martin for the job they do in this industry. Waterhouse is a legend and Martin brings a lot of people into the sport - and at a very affordable level.

But this whole sorry saga was just rot - absolute unadulterated rot.

After Justice Bergin handed down his decision Waterhouse was on camera saying that it is "onwards and upwards from here."

Ms Waterhouse anything you do after this can only possibly be upwards - as this episode was the pits.

 

I guess that it is time to get selfish. In the lead up to the next State election all racing people should hold the policies of the NSW Opposition up to the light and ask the question - "will racing in this State benefit from a change of Government?". If not, there are 70,000 employees who depend on racing for their livelihood in this State, and each of them should seriously consider whether a change of government (as is widely predicted) is in their interests.

I was somewhat surprised at this week's Inglis Easter Yearling Sales to run into State Opposition Upper House MP Mike Gallagher and his wife. I have known Mike for a number of years but hardly see him as a racing person. I also noted that Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell was at the complex yesterday.

This was somewhat pleasing as to date the NSW Coalition has done very little to excite me when it comes to initiatives for the thoroughbred racing industry.

For many years under the esoteric and out of touch Carr Government, racing was treated as an also ran and not as one of the top five industries in this country and state. This continued under Morris Iemma with the inept Graham West being appointed to the Racing and Gaming portfolio.

Finally the "penny dropped" somewhere in Macquarie Street and Kevin Greene landed the Racing and Gaming portfolio and Greene has listened to the industry, worked to see some considerable changes such as fixed odds betting being available to the TAB on all races to make them competitive with corporate bookmakers etc.

I hold no truck with the disastrous NSW Government, but we are talking racing here. And, as that is our livelihood we have to look at what policies and Minister is going to best suit our livelihoods.

Some months ago I had a meeting with the then State Secretary of the ALP Matt Thistlethwaite and Matt was keen to see the advancement of racing and asked me straight out "what does the industry want." Without exception I have not had that level of interest expressed to me by NSW Opposition Members.

The NSW Coalition seems to have fallen for the old Carr trick - just putting anyone into the Racing and Gaming portfolio as George Souris (the Shadow Minister) has not come forth with one policy initiative since being given the post. I was even more disheartened when I spoke to a NSW Opposition friend some months back and asked why Souris has got the job and she bluntly told me "well we had to put him somewhere." "Great," I thought........not!

And, to date Souris has performed like someone who had to be given some role. For racing, this is simply not good enough and the powers that be in the Coalition have to start treating the industry seriously or the industry needs to get political before the next State election and ensure that if Government changes we have a pro-active and switched on Racing Minister. Anything less is simply unsatisfactory to the industry.

Go to www.parliament.nsw.gov.au and check Souris' "activity" on the racing industry. You will leave the site fearful for our industry after you do.

With racing facing several challenges from the dispersement of the gambling dollar, state revenue for the industry under challenge from the race fields legislation, revenue being pilfered by other states via coporate bookmakers, the lingering issue of merged TAB pools, the mining threat to the Hunter Valley breeding industry etc.

The industry cannot afford to have someone "who has to be put somewhere" at the helm during this period.

I don't buy this rot that you can come out of the woodwork two months before an election offering the industry myrrh and frankincense and then disappear back into your ivory tower once an election is over and leave the industry unassisted.

At the Racing Industry Participant's Forum held at the Inglis complex some months back, well known breeder and racehorse owner Michael Sissian raised the issue of the industry "needing representation" and getting in there politically.

He was right, but to date little has happened. I have long believed that a united racing industry would frighten the life out of any government or opposition no matter what ilk.

We have a little under a year to the next State election and both O'Farrell and Souris have to be put under the spotlight to produce their blueprint for the racing industry - what they are gpoing to do differently and how they are going to benefit the industry.

If they can't - don't change - and a combined racing vote would go a long way to averting that change. Sissian was right - the industry needs to get "down and dirty" with politicians on the problems in our industry and not just simply fete them in the director's rooms of the STC or AJC and traipse them around hoping they will go back to their desks and do something about the issues raised.

And to me, Souris hardly seems this type of guy. Sure he was at the Golden Slipper meeting - but up in the Director's lounge for the day - that is hardly working. Souris has to roll up his sleeves, start releasing policies, get out to the track of a morning, to the meetings around the traps and talk to people at all levels of the industry - and if he doesn't he is the wrong man for the job and the Coalition is the wrong government for the people in this industry.

By Gary Knight

 

 

There is no one in Australia that appreciates the input of the Asian, and in particular the Chinese, dollar more than me. Let's face facts - the entire Platinum Racing outfit would not exist if it were not for our many great Asian shareholders, so my very extensive involvement in the thoroughbreds industry is due to the Asian support and generosity my company has received. Similarly I am aware of the giant strides Asian economies have made in recent years and as a frequent visitor to Asia I am simply in awe at the things that have been achieved.

But a shareholder of my company and a good friend who attended the recent Dubai World Cup Carnival sent me some pretty promising information on the proposed plan to build a "Chinese Meydan" in Tianjin in the north-east of China. While I thought "oh no here is that old chestnut again - horse racing in Mainland China - the promised land and racing mecca for the entire world" - I thought I would check it all out.

Even in Australia we have seen a few "out of the box" racing proposals put into the marketplace - seen people burn their fingers and very little - in fact nothing - come of them. The new proposal for Tianjin sounds lavish - comes with a $4b - yep that's right "B" for billion price tag and rumours are circulating rapidly that Dubai will in fact be asked to lend their expertise in establishing this Meydan replica.

To be named Tianjin Horse City the complex will feature the training of 8,000 "equine professionals", the breeding of a 1,000 quality horses for future breeding purposes and will feature residential sites, luxury hotels, restaurants, stables and its publicists, hired to promote the project, are saying that it will return "significant tax revenues to the State (Chinese Government) within five years."

I may be wrong - and I have been wrong before - but please, spare me! The history of horse racing in China is very chequered and this whole idea sounds like the now dead and buried Beijing Jockey Club proposal of a few years back, the much lauded return to horse racing at Wuhan - which has been a rank failure and various other proposals that have been scuttled by both Triad involvement and Government interference.

There was also the much-vaunted pre-training and spelling centre just across the border from Hong Kong in neighbouring Guandong Province last year, that, with the new bridge across the Perle River Delta to Macau was going to make that area of Guangong a spelling and pre-training hub for Hong Kong and Macau trainers.

Unfortunately I have heard it all before and one has to examine particularly the Chinese Government interference in horse racing proposals to know that if this project gets off the ground - horse steak will again be cheap in Tianjin and all the proposed luxury hotels and restaurants will be serving it before closing down!

Let's go back to the failed Beijing Jockey Club of the 80's. Racecourse was built, bloodstock was imported from all over the world and Teirce, winner of the Golden Slipper here in Australia was among the stallions imported to form the foundation of the "national stud".

Expats from all over the world were employed (as is the case in the rest of Asian racing circles - Singapore, Macau, Malaysia and Hong Kong) and "trial racing" and "exhibition racing" was approved by the central government. Oops - but there was a catch - the Chinese Government actually outlawed betting on the races as a means of controlling Triad involvement and punters could only gamble a small amount of RMB and get a "quick pic" with a number on it like a Lotto slip and the dividends were paid on the lucky numbers.

Of course, Triads started running illegal betting - and the Central Government moved in and the entire operation was closed down. Expats were sent packing, the horses were eaten - including Tierce and it was bye bye Beijing Jockey Club.

All was quiet on the eastern front for a number of years and another foray into horse racing was made in Wuhan - this time the promoters treading vary warily and bringing in "mountain ponies" from Mongolia and other parts of China to start racing not far from Shanghai.

This time the Chinese Government relented and broke the old Communist axiom of "no gambling". A few expats - mainly jockeys were imported to ride at a few of the first meetings and China looked like it might finally join the international league of horse racing countries.

The promoters of the Wuhan project saw it as a goldmine. They could see the turnover in Hong Kong, the vibrant racing industry in Singapore and Wuhan was going to be the best thing since sliced bread on the Chinese business landscape.

Wrong!

Again the Central Government interference ensured that Wuhan would only be a rump of what horse racing could be in China. It began by monitoring punters' bets, demanding the production of ID for larger punters and generally playing Big Brother - something the Government in China simply never fails to do. The end result was many of the larger tax-evading (or worse) businessmen and government officials - who were going to be the financial lifeblood of the Wuhan enterprise began to avoid the project like it was giving you SARS at the front gate.

So the prospects for Tianjin Horse City look pretty bleak - even with only recent history taken into account. Let's get realistic - something that is not a trait when it comes to PRC business proposals. The very proposal being bandied around Dubai only states that "The Group (the promoters) will pay attention to and make proposals on the policy of the State in respect of commercial horse racing."

Wait on - I know some things can be lost in the translation - but this sounds to me like the project does not have the official imprimatur of the mandarins in Beijing.

In fact I will bet it hasn't - and I am a betting man. So what do we have on the drawing board here?

Yes, we have grand plans and I am sure a lot of the Chinese bluff and bluster that this person or that person is "very famous" and has friends in high places that can get the approval. Secondly we have a few gullible people that will throw a hatfull of money in - probably to see it disappear quicker than Tierce did off dinner plates in Beijing.

Thirdly we have a Chinese Government who is very anti-horse racing and gambling who would see a project on such a grand scale as elitist and watering down the communist ethos, something they are trying very hard to maintain wherever possible.

Besides if this wonderous horse city was Government sanctioned you would have had Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao sitting in the Royal Box at Meydan announcing to the world the plans to stage the Chinese "Universe" Cup meeting - China being China they would not be prepared to have a second Meydan - they would have to be bigger and better.

Unfortunately horse racing in China has a great future if it were allowed to function as it does all around the world - under strict regulations with a legitimate body like the Hong Kong Jockey Club or similar controlling it.

However, outside control is something frowned on in Beijing and therefore the knowledge of the industry simply does not exist in China - contrary to the popularly espoused Chinese line that they have and can do everything.

The very commercial basis of Tianjin Horse City has to be questioned on the chequered history of horse racing in China and the instransigence of authorities to allow an industry to grow and flourish without constant interference and constantly moving the goalposts.

On that basis just who is going to tip in $4b to get this project to the stage where it is dressed up and ready to go without any surety from the PRC Government that it can be allowed to stage race meetings, have a wagering system on its meetings and operate without retardant Government regulations and intereference?

My guess is no one. Chinese businesspeople are far too savvy for that. In fact, many Chinese businessmen - even if they thought it would be a chance of succeeding - would probably shun it simply because of the "baggage" that past racing projects in China carry and many would not like to be seen near something that had not yet received Government approval.

"Face" to successful Chinese businesspeople is paramount. It is in fact a currency that curries favour and opportunity and to be seen to be involved in something that is officially frowned upon would be a risk that many Chinese businessmen would not be prepared to take.

Even though the Chinese love to gamble, very few admit to it as it is culturally eschewed.

I am afraid there is more than the Great Wall Of China standing between the promoters of Tianjin Horse City and a full scale racing product - and anything less than a full scale racing product would be doomed to financial failure and $4b is a significant failure - even by Chinese standards.

If you feel like investing - all I can say is good luck!

By Gary Knight.